Kairos Is Love If you had to condense the essence of the Kairos ministry down to its fundamental core, it would be LOVE. Not just any love, but the love of Christ, delivered in wave after wave by His family. Of course, we think of love for the residents, but it's also for fellow Team members, love for people supplying agape, love for the Christian community, love for the prison officials, and love for Jesus. Lord, let me be an example of Your loving spirit And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39 A dear friend was sharing with me how much turmoil was going on in her family. So much conflict, and she seemed incapable of fixing it. She found herself once again in prayer over the mess, and God whispered to her... "I gave you two jobs to do for me - they are your Job Descriptions." Two jobs? My Job Descriptions? "I told you to love me with your every fiber, and I told you to love your neighbor." Oh that, she thought. But God pressed it on her heart that if we will just take care of our assigned (two) jobs, and let Him take care of the rest, life will be so much sweeter. As the leader of this Kairos, there are so many details you have to handle. We want to make sure everything is done just the way WE want it. But, God is unimpressed by our effort. He simply wants you to love Him with all you have (and that's a lot!) and to express that love to everyone. Kairos is all about love, and it starts with you!
The Love Team In order to be part of Christ's "Love Team," you must set your self-focus aside. Easier said than done, isn't it? The Kairos Team formation process is the "practice field" where the Team sheds its self interests and puts on the cloak of humility, obedience, sacrifice, vulnerability, and love - the face of Christ himself. Put Your cloak of humility on me To conclude: You must all have the same attitude and the same feelings; love one another as brothers, and be kind and humble with one another. 1 Peter 3:8
Building a Firm Foundation for your Kairos Prayer forms the key foundation for Kairos. No matter how smart or organized, or experienced we are, success is dependent on how willing your Team is to humble itself and adopt a prayerful spirit. This is especially true for the leaders. Lord, Your will - not mine And so it is with prayer - Keep on asking and you will keep on getting; Keep on looking and you will keep on finding; Knock and the door will be opened. Luke 11:9
Dying to Self Christ calls us to be servants. Being a servant requires that we give up our control. A servant is at the beckoned call of their Master. The servant's agenda is not what's important, only the agenda of the Master is important. So, you are asked to sacrifice your self-focus so that you can truly be His servant on this Kairos. Free me of my desire for control He died for all so that all who live - having received eternal life from Him - might live no longer for themselves, to please themselves, but to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them. 2 Corinthians 6:15
Advocates for Christ The power in Kairos comes as we stay focused on being advocates for Christ. When we begin to become advocates for prisoners, we may find friendships, but the power of the ministry is diminished. Lord, keep me focused on you! But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him. 2 Corinthians 5:18
The Nature of God's Love Help the Team come to understand the nature of God's love - not one where He's trying to catch us failing, but one filled with understanding, forgiveness, and acceptance. Guide the Team away from criticism and control by YOUR example, and toward a spirit where even prison officials will observe "we know Kairos by its Love!" Guide me to be a leader in Your love Listen to me! You can pray for anything and if you believe, you shall have it; it's yours! But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. Mark 11:24
The First Prayer Warrior Pray every day for your Team, the Candidates, the Chaplain, the Administration and Officers, the community that's supplying Agape, and most of all for God's purposes to be fulfilled through your humble, sacrifical obedience. Help me be a true prayer warrior for this Kairos Neither for these alone do I pray, but also for all those who will ever come to believe in Me through their word and teaching, that they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me. John 17:20,21
Walking in Christ's Light The Christian experience is one that walks in the light of Christ's great love for us. we need to be models of that walk in the light. Everything we do should be done in the spirit of that love. Don't let petty differences or disappointments draw you out of that love. Show me how to be a model of walking in Your light For though once your heart was full of darkness, now it is full of light from the Lord, and your behavior should show it! Because of this light within you, you should do only what is good and right and true. Ephesians 5:8,9
Obedience The Christian life is one of learning to lay down our will and to joyfully serve in obedience. In Kairos, that obedience starts with Christ, of course. But it extends to being obedient to the Advisory Council, the prison authorities, and to the Kairos Method. Make sure that you are not bringing an attitude of "I always wanted to do..." into the Kairos. Kairos is not about what we want! I beg You to conform my will to Yours Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters, remembering that is is the Lord Christ who is going to pay you, giving you your full portion of all He owns. He is the one you are really working for. Colossians 4:23,24
Encourage Each Other Help the Team understand that when we walk in the love of god, we become vehicles to pass that love on to others. Encourage the Team to be supportive of each other, to edify each other, and to hold each other in prayer. When there are problems (and there will be), will the Team respond in the love of Christ, or will they respond with a spirit of criticism? Show me how to be an encourager for Your Team Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another, to show love and to do good. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some of you are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more... Hebrews 10:24,25a
Unified in Christ We come to Kairos as the Body of Christ, unified in the one thing that is most important - that God loves us all and wants us to love Him. We set the things that divide us aside for the Kairos as secondary things. We can differ on these things, but in Kairos, we are unified in the love of Christ. Lord, keep us unified in You! There is now no distinction, neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galations 3:28
Dealing With Conflict Confilcts on the Team? Why are you surprised? If the Team is doing a mighty work for God, Satan will try to distract the Team and the leadership from being focused on God. Help your Team understand this so they can put internal conflict into its proper spiritual perspective. Protect us in our weakness from Satan's ways So then, we must always aim at those things that bring peace and that help strengthen one another. Romans 14:19
Building a Team for Christ The primary purposes of Team meetings are: 1. Spiritual Formation of the Team 2. Logistical Preparation of the Team It takes time and effort to do both, even if you don't feel like you are gifted to do either one! Remember, it is God's Team - He sent people to you. Use the gifts that He has given them to help you prepare His Team. Use me to help build Your Team for Your purpose According to the grace of God bestowed on me, like a skillful architect and master builder I laid the foundation, and now another is building upon it. But let each be careful how he builds upon it. 1 Corinthians 3:10
The Practice Field Model and practice everything in Team meetings. Have your leaders handle as much in Team meetings as possible. Your leaders should be given the chance to practice leading in their assigned roles. You provide them that chance by stepping aside in the meetings and letting them take on their role. Show the Team the light of Christ by modeling His style of servant leadership. Use me as an example of your servant leadership And this is how we may discern that we are coming to know Him: if we practice His teachings. 1 John 2:3
The Servant vs "Being In Service" A foot washing ceremony does not help form a servant's heart within the Team if the leader is not living out the life of a servant before the Team. Sacrifice your ego, pride, desire to control, and personal agendas and that will begin the process of building a Team with a servant's heart. Show me how to be Your servant You are the people of God; He love you and chose you for His own. so then, you must clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colosians 3:12